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Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Investing In Yourself

So now that life has settled into a new routine for me I've begun to ask myself the question what am I do to do with all this free time? A large part of me was scared of getting trapped in the mundane routine of a 9-5 40 hour work week. Terrified even. I thought about revisiting hobbies of mine, art, paintings, drawings, reading, knitting, but so far none of this has appealed to me as of yet. My creative juices haven't begun to flow yet.

I dunno how the thought came about. Maybe I had just finished a day's worth of useless spending. I came to the realization that in the last 4 years I have invested in all the material things that make me "feel" good. The clothes, bags, hair, shoes, furniture, house, car. All the things I wanted with tangible monetary value I had gathered. As I swiped my credit card to purchase an unneeded bag it dawned of me that I could be doing something much better with my disposable income.

Really with money you have three choices. You can spend it. You can save it. or You can invest it. So I begun think more on investing. And not the kind you do on Wall Street. See there's another type of investing we can do. Investing in ourselves. Unlike Wall Street it has non the risks and all of the benefits. And when I say investing in yourself I'm not talking about buying yourself new clothes or anything regarding your appearance, or anything that makes you feel good, actually.

The type of investment I'm talking about is something that cannot be taken away or devalued by anyone else. It's the same type of investment you make in your self when you choose to go to school, learn a new trade, skill or talent. For example, once you learn something you will always have knowledge. What you do and how you apply that knowledge is up to you. But at the end of the day no one can take that knowledge away from you.

That's the kind of investment I'm speaking of. But I can hear a few people saying, well that's not a hard or unique type of investment. After all millions of us seek knowledge, whether its a formal education from Yale or an informal one from the University of Google. And they would be right. But I'm talking about investing in something many of us, especially as Americans, neglect for a million and one reasons. Our health.

We as Americans are less willing to dedicate the same amount of money and energy to better our health that we dedicate to our materialistic belongings. But our materialistic possessions only have value as long as others find value in them. Would you want those Jordans if others didn't want or admire them as well? Or that nice car? The nice clothes? The nice bags? So essentially in a around about way we can conclude that these we gather these materialist possessions not just for ourselves, but also for other people.

However, investing in your health is the one benefit that you exclusively benefit from. But man of us find it outrageous to pay $40 for a gym membership. I get it. The monetary investment and the amount of energy needed to be successful can seem steep. But I ask you this. How good is that fancy car of yours if you're too sick to drive it. What purpose do those shoes and clothes have if you're too sick to get out of your bed. I'm not saying go out and go visit your doctor and get tons of prescriptions to help you be healthier. I'm telling you to BE HEALTHIER. Move your body. The human body wasn't meant to be as lazy as our society allows it to be. Eat healthier. The human body isn't meant to process ridiculous amounts of processed foods and sugars. Invest in your body!

As we have moved into a information driven society the investment of the mind carried more weight than that of the body. But I'm here to tell you that the physical encasement of your soul that keeps you here is just as worthy of an investment as your mind. Not to mention that fact that when it improves so does your mind! So with all this in mind (no pun intended) I decided that I have nothing to lose from investing in my body. I got a gym membership, I got a personal trainer and I got up off my ass. I am making the conscience choice to shift money from materialistic things that serve no other function but to paint a picture for other people to investing in my body and making that my greatest work of art. Join me!